1K10-9: What 666 Really (and I Mean REALLY) Means!

“The weight of the gold Shlomo received annually came to twenty-two tons of gold,“-1 Kings 10:14

Verse 14 says something interesting concerning the amount of gold Solomon received on a yearly basis.

The Complete Jewish Bible (verse copied above) states the amount of gold Solomon received was 22 tons.

But you wanna know what the original Hebrew says?

It says 666 talents.

Hmm…ain’t that interesting.

That’s some serious numerical symbolism that cannot be ignored.

According to Tom Bradford’s Torah Class, Vilna Gaon’s commentary on the Zohar says 666 is associated with the Messianic Age.

That makes sense.

But one thing you don’t wanna do is fall for Christian nonsense on the matter.

The Christians will say that 6 represents man.

They are correct in that and probably got that from Judaism.

Humans are created on day six.

Revelation 13:18 itself says 666 is “the number of a man.”

The Bible also has a habit of tagging human pride and power with sixes.

Goliath stands six cubits tall and carries a spearhead of 600 shekels.

Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue in Daniel 3 is 60 cubits by 6 cubits.

There’s also the “falls short of 7” reading, since 7 is the number of completion and divine rest.

The point is six may come close to reaching divine perfection but never quite gets there.

That idea is fairly old and fits the Hebrew Bible’s own patterns.

So saying “6 is the number of man” has real Scriptural support.

But the Christians are smoking too much marijuana when they say 3 is the number of God.

I’d say that’s ridiculous Trinitarian theology being read right back into the text.

The specific formula “man repeated three times to imitate the triune God” is a bs homiletic reading.

You’ll find it in preachers and in popular books like E.W. Bullinger’s Number in Scripture (1890s).

The bottom line is it ain’t God’s signature number as the Christians falsely promote.

It ain’t ancient.

And it’s definitely NOT Jewish!

Ya feel me here?

So, if the number 3 doesn’t represent God, what does it represent?

Scripturally speaking, 3 represents something confirmed or established.

For example, we’ve got the significance of the third day.

Or the fact that things have to be confirmed by three witnesses.

So what’s the proper way to interpret 666 without being influenced by the Christians?

First, understand that Hebrew uses repetition to make a superlative.

For instance, “Holy, holy, holy” in Isaiah 6:3 means “the holiest possible.” 

So 6-6-6 can read as “man to the max,” or humanity at its absolute peak.

Again, I know the trinitarians will get all excited and think that each holy is referring to a member of the trinity (God, son, and the holy spirit).

But that ain’t the case.

Given this context, let’s really sit down and think about what 666 means.

Let’s follow Bradford’s cue here.

If 666 stands for the physical world maxed out, then Solomon basically squeezed the planet dry.

Every bit of wealth and power the world had to offer, he got his hands on it.

Where did all his gold and wealth come from?

It came from trade deals, tribute, and foreign kings.

The point is it came from everywhere except heaven.

Mankind handed it to him.

God didn’t.

At the end of his days, here is what Solomon had to say about all of the worldly treasures he had amassed.

“Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never
satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.”
-Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV)

Or this one about peace of mind…